Zim Online
Wed 6 September 2006
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe Communications
Minister Chris Mushowe has promised
to revise the government's Interception
of Communications Bill and remove
"offending provisions" from the proposed
law seeking to permit the state to
monitor private internet communication, a
prominent media organisation said
on Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe
chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa
(MISA-Zimbabwe) said
Mushowe undertook to take a second look at the Bill
when he appeared before
a special parliamentary committee on transport and
communications earlier
this week.
Members of the parliamentary committee quizzed Mushowe
on some of the
controversial provisions of the Bill, according to
MISA-Zimbabwe.
The statement by MISA-Zimbabwe read
in part: "In response to queries
raised by the committee, Mushohwe assured
the Portfolio Committee on
Transport and Communications that his ministry
would revisit the Bill and
effect the requisite changes where
necessary."
Although MISA-Zimbabwe did not say whether Mushowe had
specifically
said he would excise from the Bill clauses empowering state
agents to snoop
on private internet communications, it however claimed the
government had
"promised to revisit the proposed law and remove offending
provisions from
the Bill".
The Bill, roundly condemned by local
and international press freedom
and human rights groups as yet another
onslaught on journalists' and
citizens' rights, seeks to permit the chief of
military intelligence, head
of state secret service and the Commissioner of
the Zimbabwe Republic Police
to intercept internet and cellphone
communications between private
individuals and organisations in the
country.
The Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(ZIMRA)
will also be empowered to intercept communications under the Bill
that is
before Parliament.
State agents will also have powers
to open mail sent by ordinary post
as well as through licensed courier
service providers, under the proposed
new law.
Citizens and
organisations will be barred from challenging
interception of their
communications at the courts but could appeal to the
Minster of Transport
and Communications, who in the first place grants
authority for private mail
or communication to be intercepted.
Civic and media organisations
want the Bill withdrawn saying Zimbabwe
already has more than its fair share
of draconian laws that hinder the free
flow of information while imposing
severe restrictions on journalists and
newspapers in the
country.
Zimbabwe already has some of the worst media laws in the
world with
for example, journalists being liable to imprisonment for up to
two years if
caught practising without a licence from the state's Media and
Information
Commission.
Newspapers are also required to
register with the commission with
those failing to comply with the
requirement facing closure and seizure of
their equipment by the
police.
The southern African nation, described by the World
Association of
Newspapers as one of the worst places for journalists in the
world, has in
the past three years shut down at least four newspapers
including its
largest circulating daily paper, the Daily News, for breaching
the tough
media laws. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 6 September 2006
HARARE - Anti-President Robert
Mugabe protests planned for next week
by Zimbabwe's labour and student
movements could mark the beginning of
co-ordinated civil disobedience likely
to put under siege an administration
that has enjoyed uninterrupted rule for
26 years, analysts said.
They were however quick to point out that
protests alone were most
unlikely to dislodge Mugabe or his government but
would certainly thrust
Zimbabwe's long-running crisis back under the
international spotlight as the
veteran leader fights back for
survival.
Political tensions rose a notch up in the troubled
southern African
nation after the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
and the Zimbabwe
National Students Union (ZINASU) announced at the weekend
plans to stage
nationwide mass protests by mid-month to force Mugabe's
government to halt a
seven-year crippling economic recession.
"I think we are seeing the beginning of a very tough period where the
government is going to face regular upheaval, regular job stayaways because
the people of Zimbabwe are tired and are resolute in doing something in
terms of alleviating their hardships," said John Makumbe, a University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) political science lecturer and a strong critic of Mugabe's
government.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai last week caught security forces by surprise when
he led his top
lieutenants in a march he said was a warning of more protests
- along the
lines of Ukraine's Orange Revolution - promised by the
opposition to force
Mugabe to accept sweeping political
reforms.
Political tensions have been rising as the country
grapples with an
economic meltdown blamed mainly on state mismanagement.
Zimbabwe has the
highest inflation rate at just under 1 000 percent,
skyrocketing
unemployment, shortages of foreign currency, food, fuel and
power and
increasing poverty levels.
Analysts said the
significance of the protests would be to put back on
the global agenda
Zimbabwe's crisis, which has divided the international
community along
racial lines.
"There is no doubt Mugabe will come out fighting to
defend his turf
but the important thing is it (protests) will force not only
regional but
the international community to refocus on Zimbabwe saying here
is a conflict
breaking out and let's exert more pressure on Mugabe to mend
his ways," said
Eldred Masunungure, chairman at the UZ's political science
department.
Makumbe told ZimOnline: "I think we will see a Mugabe
under siege but
his fighting back will likely see the violation of human
rights escalating
as he maximises pain against those who will be opposing
him."
Mugabe has promised to ruthlessly crush any mass action
against his
government and last month boasted that the security forces would
"pull the
trigger" against those seeking to overthrow him.
Analysts are divided on how security forces would react to anti-Mugabe
protests. Some say the forces, many of them who fought under his leadership
during the 1970s war of independence, are still loyal to Mugabe but others
say soldiers and police have not been spared from the country's economic
crisis, which has eroded their loyalty.
The security forces,
made up of the army, air force, police and
spy-Central Intelligence
Organisation agents are paid an average Z$30 000
salary every month, against
a government poverty datum line of $80 000 for
an average Zimbabwean family
of six people.
The ZCTU wants the government and employers to
accept linking wages
and salaries for all workers, including the security
forces, to inflation.
ZINASU, a grouping of students at the
country's universities and other
tertiary colleges, yesterday handed the
government a two-week ultimatum to
reduce fees and improve conditions at
colleges or face protests by students.
"This action is not as
fragmented as it looks, I think there is a lot
of a co-ordinated effort
being made behind the scenes. This initial action
will likely be testing the
waters as it were," Masunungure said.
"Mugabe will be amazed
because some of the support for the mass action
will come from people in his
own party who are also feeling the pinch of the
crisis," added
Makumbe.
Mugabe's ZANU PF, which has been riven by factionalism for
years, is
battling to contain an explosive succession battle that has split
the former
liberation movement right down the middle. Some disillusioned and
frustrated
members are said to be giving tacit support to opposition
protests.
Zimbabwe has remained on knife-edge since Tsvangirai
threatened in
March to call mass protests to force Mugabe to give up power
to a
transitional government that should write a new democratic constitution
for
Zimbabwe and organise fresh elections under international
supervision.
Mugabe brands the MDC a puppet of former colonial
power Britain and
has hinted he will only step down when his six-year term
ends in March 2008.
The 82-year old President denies mismanaging
the economy or rigging
recent elections and instead accuses the West of
slapping sanctions on
Harare to punish his government for seizing land from
whites for
redistribution to landless blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 6
September 2006
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe commuters have to fork out more
money after the
state rail company this week hiked fares by more than 85
percent in yet
another example of increasing hardship in the troubled
southern African
country.
The Monday fare hike by the National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) will
hit hard low income earners most of who
depend on public trains to avoid
higher charges on private taxes and buses.
Rail travel is the cheapest mode
of transport in Zimbabwe.
A
trip from the capital Harare to the second largest city of Bulawayo,
more
than 400 km away, now costs Z$2 100 up from the $1 300 commuters used
to pay
last week.
The new fares are however still cheaper than those
charged by bus
companies plying the same route. For example, a trip from
Bulawayo to Harare
by road costs between $5 000 to $6 000 per
individual.
NRZ spokesperson, Fanuel Masikati, yesterday confirmed
the fare
increases saying the new fares will help the loss making state
parastatal
improve service delivery for commuters.
"The new
fares will ensure that we offer best service to the
travelling public and as
a result we had to increase the fares. We hope
members of the public will
appreciate the improved services that we will
offer them," Masikati
said.
An ever rising cost of living is only one among a litany of
troubles
bedeviling Zimbabwe in its seventh straight year of an economic
recession,
critics blame on mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe. He
denies the
charge.
Zimbabwe also faces chronic shortages of
food, fuel, electricity,
essential medicines, hard cash and just about every
basic survival
commodity. - ZimOnline
The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft
in Harare
(Filed: 05/09/2006)
The Anglican
Bishop of Harare has cancelled church services on Sunday
to mark the
occasion of his wedding anniversary and instructed clergy and
congregations
to contribute gifts and food to his party.
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga,
a vocal supporter of President Robert Mugabe,
will lead the day-long
celebration of his 33rd anniversary. The party, at a
sports centre, will be
held at a time when many priests are barely able to
survive the hardships of
living in Zimbabwe, with its hyper-inflation and
food
shortages.
Bishop Kunonga was accused last year at an
ecclesiastical trial of
dozens of charges, including incitement to murder a
priest, intimidation and
bringing the Church into contempt.
But a mistrial was declared when the proceedings collapsed within
hours as
the accused refused to accept evidence provided by a witness by a
video-link
to London.
He denied the charges brought under Church law and faced
no separate
criminal charges.
Bon Stumbles, the Chancellor of
the Harare diocese, who survived a
purge of whites within the Anglican
hierarchy, described next Sunday's event
as a "wedding spree".
"Holding Sunday services seems to have been cast aside in the
interests of
personal magnification," said Mr Stumbles.
VOA
By Blessing
Zulu & Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
05 September
2006
Zimbabwean government security forces have been placed
on high alert in
response to ongoing and planned demonstrations by the
political opposition
and civic groups to step up pressure on President
Robert Mugabe for
democratic reforms.
Chief police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena was quoted by the Sunday Mail as
saying authorities were ready to
deal with any "unlawful activity stemming
from the protests."
Senior
intelligence officials, declining to be named said Mr. Mugabe was
angered
that a protest march staged Friday by officials and members of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change faction led by party founding
president Morgan Tsvangirai took police by surprise, then was allowed to
proceed as they largely stood by.
Junior security officials were said
to have been reprimanded for their
inactivity.
Police on leave were
recalled to bolster security, teams of anti-riot police
were being
dispatched to police stations throughout the country, official
sources
said.
Another police spokesman, Oliver Mandipaka, confirmed 351 police
officers
had been promoted effective Friday, September 1. Political analysts
conclued
that the move was aimed at bolstering support for the Mugabe
administration
among officers.
Despite heightened security, spokesman
Nelson Chamisa of the Tsvangirai led
MDC faction told reporter Blessing Zulu
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
his party won't be deterred from
pursuing its long-promised campaign of
peaceful resistance.
Analyst
Sydney Masamvu of the International Crisis Group think tank's South
African
office said the protests marked an important turning point in the
crisis.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said it will
hold
demonstrations across the country on September 13 aiming to press the
government to address the rapidly and continually deteriorating economic
situation.
Responding to the ZCTU protest call this weekend, Mr.
Mugabe issued a
statement warning those participating to be prepared to face
the full force
of the law.
ZCTU Secretary General Wellington
Chibhebhe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri
that he was not focused on the
threat of a police reponse but on "sending a
message" to the Mugabe
government about economic hardship and the AIDS death
toll.
Engineering News
Zimbabwe's central bank governor said on Tuesday local banks have
failed to
account for $25-million earmarked for fuel imports, and warned
they faced a
heavy penalty if they misused the money.
Gideon Gono was
quoted by state media as saying the money could have been
sold on a thriving
black market, where the greenback trades at almost three
times the official
price.
"Certainly a sledge hammer is coming and rest assured ... in the
event that
we get to know a bank which gave (foreign currency) above the
official rate,
serious consequences would follow that bank including the
withdrawal of
(its) licence," the Herald newspaper quoted Gono as
saying.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a punishing 8-year recession marked
by severe
shortages of foreign exchange, which has hit critical imports such
as fuel
and electricity.
The crunch worsened after international
donors, including the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), halted lending to
the country over policy differences
with President Robert Mugabe's
government. It objected to the seizure of
white-owned farms for
blacks.
Most of Zimbabwe's industries are operating below 30 percent
capacity due to
the foreign currency squeeze and rocketing production costs,
stemming from
world record inflation of nearly 1 000 percent.
In July
Gono unveiled a set of measures to kickstart the economy, including
a 60
percent devaluation of the local dollar.
He allowed exporters, including
gold producers, to keep 70 percent of their
earnings in foreign currency
accounts indefinitely.
The Nairobi-based PTA Bank said on Tuesday it
would provide $40-million in
credit lines this year to fund shipment of
Zimbabwe's exports, crucial to
generate foreign currency for the country's
struggling economy.
Last year the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) Bank --
which provides trade
finance for its member states in eastern and southern
Africa -- extended $30
million in credit to Zimbabwe.
"We are looking
at providing $40-million this year which will be used to
finance short-term
... exports," Michael Gondwe, the bank's president told
Reuters after
signing a $5-million credit facility with local bank ZABG
Bank.
Gono
said the country had this year raised $1,1-billion from exports.
Business in Africa
(Johannesburg)
September 5, 2006
Posted to the web September 5,
2006
Harare
Zimbabwe has granted two private power licenses for
the first time, the
energy regulator said on Monday.
The licensing of
two private power companies effectively ends the
inefficient state-owned
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority's (Zesa)
monopoly.
The Zimbabwe
Electricity Regulatory Commission (Zerc) said that it had
granted licences
to Hippo Valley Estates and Rusitu Power Corporation to
build power plants
in Zimbabwe.
Zesa currently provided only 65 percent of the countries
needs. Relying on
imports from neighbouring countries was proving difficult
due to a chronic
shortage of foreign currency and was resulting in frequent
power shortages.
The liberalisation was aimed at dealing with declining
production; however,
it was unclear how the new plants would import
equipment, expertise and
resources given the current forex
crunch.
Another consideration was how the new plants were going to recoup
expenses,
given government practice of setting tariffs at unviable
levels.
[ This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 5 Sep 2006 (IRIN) -
In a bid to win back the support of the
international community, Zimbabwe's
government has relented on its land
policy and is to remove settlers from
occupied farms owned by foreign
companies.
More than 100 farms
covered by Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements
(BIPAs), invaded as
part of President Robert Mugabe's fast-track land
redistribution programme,
will either be returned or their previous owners
compensated for their
loss.
A committee led by foreign affairs minister Simbabrashe Mumbengegwi
recently
toured farms under the protection agreements and recommended that
the people
subsequently settled on these farms be relocated.
Flora
Buka, the minister responsible for land and resettlement, confirmed
the
policy in an interview with IRIN. "As a government, we have resolved
that we
are going to relocate the new farmers who are settled on land
covered by
BIPAs, or compensate the investors as a way of honouring the
agreements,"
she said. "On the part of the Zimbabwean government, I feel
this is an
acceptable arrangement and will be acceptable to all
parties."
Compensating the previous landowners does not, however, appear
a realistic
option.
Dutch companies growing and exporting cut flowers
to Europe own most of the
farms falling under the protection agreements, but
Zimbabwe also has
bilateral protection agreements with Sweden, Switzerland,
Indonesia,
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy and Germany, among
others.
Since the 2000 land invasions began, Zimbabwe's economy has gone
into
freefall. An annual inflation rate hovering at around 1,000 percent has
seen
unemployment levels rise above 70 percent, and shortages of foreign
currency
have caused food, fuel and electricity to become scarce
commodities.
The first beneficiary of the initiative will be an
Indonesian company
breeding ostriches in Matabeleland North Province,
according to the head of
an Indonesian delegation touring the country, but
Indonesia's minister for
the empowerment of women, Prof Meuria Swasono, said
the company would have
certain obligations.
The ostrich and leather
exporting concern will meet the costs of moving the
settlers to their new
homes, and be responsible for building new
accommodation and sinking
boreholes.
Zimbabwe's state security minister, Didymus Mutasa, said
although the
government was making efforts to respect protection agreements,
they would
be wary of those who abused the system. "Naturally, we do not
want to
disturb investors on what they are doing at the farms, but we are
aware of
investors who are going into partnerships with former commercial
farmers and
then claim to be covered by BIPAs."
Since the onset of
the land invasions, only about 600 of the country's
original complement of
about 4,500 white commercial farmers remain on
farmland.
A visiting
Italian agricultural delegation led by the country's ambassador
to the Ivory
Coast, Paolo Sannella, have also held meetings with the ruling
ZANU-PF
government to come to an agreement on the future of farms seized
from
Italian business concerns.
The delegation has hinted that it could
provide assistance in mechanising
the agricultural sector, and give
Zimbabwean agricultural products
exhibition space at the Italian
International Food Festival next year.
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo
Nkatazo
Last updated: 09/05/2006 10:42:58
ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai secretly met with the
country's central bank governor to
back his currency reforms, New
Zimbabwe.com learnt last
night.
Tsvangirai, leader of he Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
asked for a
meeting with Gono hours after the central bank governor
presented his
monetary policy review speech last month.
The MDC has
walked a tight line by carefully avoiding to condemn Gono's
currency reforms
-- a fight that has been taken up by other civic groupings
like
WOZA.
Sources said last night that Tsvangirai asked for the meeting after
"feeling
upstaged" by Arthur Mutambara, leader of a rival MDC faction, who
attended
Gono's monetary policy review presentation.
A source said:
"Tsvangirai's emissaries asked for a meeting and Gono told
them that such a
meeting would only take place at the Reserve Bank.
"Tsvangirai and his
officials attended the meeting. He (Tsvangirai)
basically gave his backing
to Gono's monetary policies."
The centre piece of Gono's monetary policy
shake-up, code named Project
Sunrise, was the unveiling of new bearer
cheques, and the removal of three
zeroes from the country's
currency.
Gono attracted criticism from Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa
who said he
was not consulted on the currency reforms and even suggested
that removing
zeroes from the country's currency was an exercise in
futility. There were
no guarantees, Murerwa said, that the zeroes would not
be back by December.
There was also widespread criticism of the Reserve
Bank policy of seizing
currency from "cash hoarders" at roadblocks mounted
countrywide. The
operation, run by the police, was later joined by national
service youths
with a reputation of public violence.
Hundreds of
people complained that their money was stolen at these
check-points, leading
to Gono's public apology late last month. Gono said
the "mishaps" were a
reminder that "quite often, good things have some
temporary hurtful
consequences".
Both factions of the MDC, which have been critical of the
government, have
remained largely disinterested in commenting on the
currency reforms.
In a further demonstration that Tsvangirai has a soft
spot for Gono, he
issued a statement last month which appeared to absolve
Gono, instead
blaming the country's economic difficulties on corruption and
President
Robert Mugabe.
In a statement issued on August 8,
Tsvangirai said: "Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono hit the nail on the head
when he mentioned indiscipline,
corruption, speculation and bureaucratic
inertia as the four main vices
weighing down Zimbabwe, led by an avaricious,
parasitic Zanu PF elite."
Efforts to obtain comment from the MDC were
unsuccessful last night.
4 September 2006
Press Statement
MDC held its National Council meeting yesterday, 4
September 2006 and noted
the deepening socio-economic crisis that has
afflicted the nation and the
increased hardships Zimbabweans continue to
endure, in particular the human
rights abuses experienced during the
currency reforms undertaken by
government through the Central Bank. The
National Council expressed concern
about the deteriorating social, economic
and political situation and
resolved to continue to fight for a democratic
and responsible government.
The National Council noted the party's
ongoing mass mobilisation throughout
the country including the President's
countrywide rallies and meetings and
further noted the Organising
Department's membership drive and consolidation
of party structures across
all provinces.
The National Council received a report and noted the
Christian Alliance's
initiative to bring together civic society and
political parties to develop
a common understanding of the crisis in
Zimbabwe and to develop common
strategies towards the resolution of the
national crisis and resolved that
the MDC should participate under the
banner of the Christian Alliance,
subject to the recognition of equality of
all political parties and the need
to ensure that the Christian Alliance's
initiative is guided by democratic
principles at all times.
The
National Council noted that the local government elections were due to
have
been held during the month of August 2006 and expressed concern about
the
seeming delay in holding these elections. The Council further noted the
numerous, expensive and unlawful requirements that have been imposed on
candidates intending to contest the elections and such conditions include,
obtaining long birth certificate, finger printing, police clearance of all
candidates as well as the payment of exorbitant nomination fees. Council
noted that these requirements are deliberately calculated to severely
curtail the rights of Zimbabweans to select their local government
leaders.
The National Council further noted the numerous false media
reports about
supposed unity, but non-existent unity talks. Council
reiterated that the
party's primary focus was not about unity talks but on
party building
through recruitments, mass mobilisation and formation of
party structures in
every part of the country across the breath and width of
Zimbabwe. The
National Council further reiterated that in the event of the
party being
approached on the question of reunification of the MDC, the
leadership of
the MDC be and is hereby, directed that any dialogue on the
unity should be
guided by fidelity to the MDC's founding values and
principles of collective
democratic decision making, the rejection of the
notion of resorting to
violence as instruments of political organisation,
full and complete respect
for the authority of the elected organs of the
party to make and implement
all decisions relating to and affecting the
party and the recognition and
respect for the diversity and equality of all
Zimbabweans regardless of
race, ethnicity, place of origin, political
opinion or sex.
Priscilla Misihairambwi -Mushonga
(MDC) Deputy
Secretary General
The Herald (Harare)
September
4, 2006
Posted to the web September 5, 2006
Harare
GOVERNMENT
has launched an operation to collect all maize that had not been
delivered
to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), Secretary for Agriculture Mr
Simon
Pazvakavambwa has said.
Mr Pazvakavambwa told the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Lands,
Agriculture, Resettlement, Rural Resources and Water
Development on Tuesday
that there was a lot of maize that was still to be
collected.
He was responding to questions by members of the committee on
what the
Government was doing following reports that hundreds of tonnes of
maize had
not yet been uncollected.
Mr Pazvakavambwa was giving oral
evidence on the state of preparedness for
the summer season by the National
Economic Development Priority Programme
(NEDPP) on Agriculture
Co-ordination, Input Supply and Food Security.
He co-chairs the task
force with the Secretary for Industry and
International Trade Retired
Colonel Christian Katsande, who also gave oral
evidence before the
committee.
Mr Pazvakavambwa said the GMB's intelligence section had been
dispatched in
advance to establish the actual situation on the
ground.
"What we are simply trying to avoid is the situation like what
happened last
year in which we sent trucks but some of them came back empty.
That is why
we have sent the intelligence section as the forerunners," he
said.
The Government, Mr Pazva-kavambwa said, would ensure that trucks
and fuel
were available to transport the maize to GMB depots.
By Violet Gonda
5 September 2006
The Zimbabwe government has further illustrated
that it is above the
law by remaining mum on the issue of when the local
government elections are
going to take place.
Constitutionally
the government should have made a statement regarding
the date during the
month of August in order for people to inspect the
voters' roll and prepare
for nominations, but there has been no explanation
for the
delay.
We were not able to get a comment from the Ministry of Local
Government, the administrators of the elections, but Paul Temba Nyathi the
Elections Director of the Mutambara MDC believes the elections are not
happening because the government has no money. Nyathi also believe problems
within ZANU PF are also be responsible.
The Elections Director
said it's frustrating because normal procedure
is not being followed making
it difficult to prepare structures. He said
this shows that the state has
become unable to discharge its
responsibilities "and the fact that it
doesn't seem to be able to do so is
an indication of a bigger malaise that
is in the country's administrative
structures."
According to
the Rural Councils Act, notice for the nomination courts
for elections in
all the 57 Rural District Councils should have been sent
out last month to
allow the nomination court to sit during the first week of
September with
the elections scheduled in 21 days' time.
Asked about the
significance of participating in the council elections
at a time when the
country is imploding Nyathi said; "ZANU PF has to be
harassed wherever
possible and it has to be engaged wherever possible."
He added that
participating helps to test the electoral system in the
country and would
tell the rest of the world how flawed the electoral
process is in
Zimbabwe.
Last Maengahama the Deputy secretary for Local Government
in the
Tsvangirai led MDC recently said his party will be fielding
candidates in
all the 1600 wards but "as usual Zanu (PF) will try to see to
it that it
does not happen. By law we should have been notified of the
nomination court
date and the date for the elections by now. But because
Zanu (PF) has a
monopoly over the elections they've kept everyone guessing.
By all accounts
their party is in disarray so this delay doesn't surprise
us."
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
HARARE - THE controversial
Sam Sipepa Nkomo, ousted from the embattled
Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe, publishers of the banned Daily News and
its sister publication,
The Daily News on Sunday, is back at the helm at ANZ
having effectively
elbowed the hapless John Gambanga out of office as acting
chief
executive.
Gambanga was early this year appointed acting chief
executive
following the ANZ board's decision to relieve Nkomo of his duties
soon after
he started dabbling into politics.
A seasoned
journalist who edited the state-controlled Manica Post
before joining The
Daily News in 2002, Gambanga replaced Nkomo, who last
year openly decided to
participate in the controversial senatorial elections
on the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) ticket.
At that time he was
with the Professor Welshman Ncube camp which was
pro-senate. He has since
defected to re-join the main MDC led by president,
Morgan Tsvangirai saying
the Arthur Mutambara camp was going against the
national mood.
"Nkomo is now effectively in charge. Gambanga apparently now spends
most of
his time now at Mverechena, in Domboshawa, where he runs a bottle
store,
while Sipepa carts away equipment and furniture to Bulawayo
unchallenged," a
source close to the ANZ told zimbabwejournalists.com.
Gambanga
himself confirmed he is surviving more by running his bottle
store and would
revert back to his position of editor of The Daily News as
soon as the Media
and Information Commission (MIC) gives the newspaper a
licence to
operate.
It is highly unlikely though that the newspaper will be
given a
licence to operate within the next two years. The popular newspaper
will no
doubt remain off the streets until the presidential elections of
2008 are
out of the way.
"ANZ is apparently now down to Sipepa,
driver Trust Maswela and loyal
office orderly James Pingiza. Sipepa's
elderly personal assistant Mrs Mbuse
was among the last to throw in the
towel as the newspaper has failed to
retain most of the staff who have
loyally been waiting on the government of
Zimbabwe to licence the
newspaper," another source said.
Nkomo, whose long-standing
corruption case involving millions of
Zimdollars and thousands in the
greenback was referred to the Supreme Court
recently, could not be reached
for comment by the time of publishing.
The state has failed to try
Nkomo for over six years now. The offences
first came to light after an
investigation by The Daily News, the newspaper
he came to lead as CEO at the
same time his brother, John, was the Home
Affairs Minister.
"What people are failing to understand is that Strive Masiyiwa has no
power
to rein in a rampant Nkomo," said a media source. "It was Sam Sipepa
Nkomo
who invested in Masiyiwa and Nigel Chanakira's companies, especially
Kingdom
Bank, when he was still the principal officer at the Mining
Industries
Pension Fund. At that time people and investors in general could
not be
bothered or they were being careful so he played a big role in the
setting
and shaping up of those businesses so they can't throw him onto the
streets
now."
He continued: "So Masiyiwa and Chanakira remain eternally
grateful and
because of that The Daily News went down the doldrums and
things continue to
happen today that may even jeopardise efforts to have the
newspaper up and
running again. That is why John Gambanga is powerless
really. He was
appointed as a figurehead while they knew Nkomo was not going
anywhere at
all."
After investing in the Kingdom Bank, Nkomo
later lost his job at the
MIPF following the unearthing of massive
corruption. He became the
all-powerful chief executive when the Independent
Media Group (IMG) of which
Masiyiwa and Chanakira were the major
shareholders, invested Z$100 million
to rescue the Daily News in
2002.
"Initially when he was told he had been relieved of his
duties, Nkomo
was given at least until July to finish off his business at
the ANZ though
he remained in control of the company purse, ironically,"
said a well-placed
source.
"But he has been refusing to go
saying he is the only one who knows
about the ANZ's inventory - furniture,
computers etc but to my best
knowledge most of those things have been
removed and we do not know where
they have been put. It is a mystery really
how one person can be allowed to
destroy an entity that was built by so many
people. Sacrifices were made for
the ANZ to be in existence but that doesn't
seem to bother Masiyiwa and his
colleagues."
Masiyiwa could not
be reached for comment as well.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
Geoff Nyarota has fled
from the despotic Mugabe regime,but he hopes to
return one day, writes
Angelique Serrao
THERE aren't many people who inspire journalists
with awe. Perhaps a
fault of the profession, newspaper men and women are
often a cynical bunch,
all too aware how easy it is for those in power to
succumb to the
machinations of that which made them great in the first
place.
But when Geoffrey Nyarota walks into a room of journalists,
there is a
hushed respect for an old newshound whose beliefs in the
greatness of the
profession go far beyond the bottom-line business approach
to which so many
editors in Western newsrooms subscribe.
This
is a man who has been thrown in jail many times, whose life has
been
threatened, whose newspaper's press was bombed and eventually closed
down,
and who was exiled from the country of his birth, Zimbabwe, by Robert
Mugabe's dictatorial regime. And yet, despite every attempt to keep his
mouth closed, Nyarota will not shut up.
If Mugabe and his Zanu
PF cronies believed they had finally managed to
silence the editor of
Zimbabwe's former independent daily newspaper, the
Daily News, when it
closed down three years ago, they were sorely mistaken.
Living in
the US, teaching young journalists at the Bard College in
upstate New York,
Nyarota penned his first book, Against the Grain: Memoirs
of a Zimbabwean
Newsman. Beginning in 1977, when Nyarota was a teacher in a
region that was
filled with Zanu PF guerrilla activity, the story travels
through his life
and experiences in a country whose people survived a war
dreaming of
freedom. And just when they thought they had achieved that goal,
they were
betrayed by the very regime that was supposed to loosen the bonds
that bound
them.
"I wrote this book because I had a story to tell. When I was
introduced to people, especially outside of Zimbabwe, and we got talking
about my experiences, most people said to me: 'I hope you write a book about
that'," Nyarota said while in South Africa this week.
"I have
only had one extremely negative reaction so far and that was
from Professor
Jonathan Moyo (a former Zanu PF member). He rubbished the
book and said it
was trash. But this book sits in judgment of people like
Moyo and Mugabe, so
it has to be taken in that context. I hope these people
read the book, but I
did not have them in mind when I wrote it. This book is
my perspective of
Zimbabwe. As a journalist and editor of four newspapers
that were located in
four different parts of the country, I believe I was
well positioned to
observe what was happening. Even before being a
journalist, I was a
schoolteacher in an operational zone, so I saw more than
many Zimbabweans,
and I believe that what I have written will come as a
surprise for many -
even some of my contemporaries."
Nyarota paints a picture of a
people who have been disappointed in a
regime that was, for many, their only
hope.
His description of the day of independence in Against the
Grain
highlights the sense of euphoria that surrounded the country when Zanu
PF
was voted into power in 1980: "On 18 April, the reticent boy from Kutama
was
sworn in as the first prime minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe. At the
stroke of midnight, the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, watched
sombrely as the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and the magical
strains of Zimbabwe, specially composed and performed for the occasion by
Jamaican reggae king Bob Marley, ushered in an era of independence,
self-rule and freedom for the black majority.
"From Rufaro
Stadium in Harare to the furthest outposts of the land
between the Zambezi
and the Limpopo it was a night of joy and celebration
over the fulfilment of
a long-stranding national dream and the sublime
belief that milk and honey
would now flow freely over earth still clammy
with the blood of
thousands."
Instead of a regime that became corrupt many years
after being voted
into power, Nyarota believes the Mugabe government went
wrong almost from
the start; the people just failed to see what was
happening because "we were
ready for a hero". "Mugabe fooled us
all.
There was so much euphoria after independence that we didn't
subject
him to any scrutiny. It is only now; the picture that is emerging is
somewhat inconsistent with the aura around him since independence, much to
the disappointment of many Zimbabweans."
The cracks in the
regime began to show only when Nyarota was editor of
the state-owned
Chronicle newspaper in 1998. He uncovered an enormous
corruption scandal,
dubbed Willowgate, that involved many Zanu PF leaders
who were using their
positions to obtain luxury cars and then reselling them
at a huge
profit.
At this point he was noticed by Mugabe, and was soon fired
from the
Chronicle's newsroom. "Having guided Zimbabwe to nationhood in
1980, Mugabe
could easily have defied the Third World stereotype of
independence followed
by grinding poverty, unbridled corruption and gross
abuse of power.
He had the benefit of learning from the mistakes of
many countries
that had gone that way before. Remarkably, however, in little
more than two
decades, Mugabe reduced a prosperous nation, once the
breadbasket of
southern Africa, to a basket case, mired in violence and
lawlessness and
shunned by the global community," Nyarota laments in his
novel.
But Nyarota always dreamt of a free Zimbabwean newspaper
that lent a
voice to people who, under the constant state of press
censorship, were
unable to be heard. It took him many years to form the
Daily News, but when
his dream came true in 1999, he didn't expect it to
outsell established
dailies in the space of just a few years.
Despite being doomed for closure almost from the start, Nyarota
believed
that his paper had a very important role to play in freeing his
country from
oppression. "The media plays a very significant role in
changing things. In
2000 the Daily News had a role in the elections. The MDC
emerged riding on
the wave of the Daily News, so much so that Zanu PF
genuinely believed it
was pre-planned.
I would dearly have loved to be the editor of the
Daily News under an
MDC government, so that I could have had the chance to
keep them on their
toes. A good newspaper is always an enemy of a bad
ruler." Asked why Nyarota
continued to carry on with his paper when he was
jailed numerous times, when
his life was threatened and his journalists were
beaten up, the newsman is
convinced that journalism is more than just news;
it is an ideal that should
never be given up.
"There was a
public expectation that this newspaper was going to
achieve something
politically for the benefit of the people. It was a paper
people looked at
to rescue them. You don't just abandon a paper that was in
a way a political
ideology. If we had not continued we would have betrayed
the trust of the
people, so in a way we became the prisoners of our own
creation.
"We had an unwritten contract with the people to
fight on their
behalf, and the journalists just kept on going. My biggest
frustration was
my total inability to protect them; all I could do was tell
them not to take
risks. It is so unfortunate that, after all that sacrifice,
the paper still
closed down."
Nyarota comes from a breed of
editors who put the story before
profits. "Critics accused me of being too
idealistic in expecting that a
paper like the Chronicle or Daily News could
force transparency and
accountability on so powerful and corruption-ridden
an administration as
Mugabe's. "I lost count of how many times I was
reminded that it was folly
to believe in the mission rather than the
business of journalism. But in my
view, if the success of a publication such
as the Daily News were to be
measured only in terms of the bottom line, with
total disregard for its
influence on public opinion, journalism would be an
exercise in futility."
It is his strong beliefs that make it so
frustrating for Nyarota to be
living in exile. He believes that if he were
in Zimbabwe right now, he could
be playing a role in changing the country.
"The future inspires me. I don't
believe this current crisis is the final
destiny of Zimbabwe. Something has
to change, and this change has to be
spearheaded by Zimbabweans themselves,
so that they have propriety over that
change.
"But I am getting less and less optimistic. When I left
Zimbabwe in
2002, I thought something would happen in the not-too-distant
future, but
now I am getting more and more disappointed. I thought
Zimbabweans were
backed against a wall, but we are a very enterprising
people - we find more
walls to lean on, even when none are left. I think
Mugabe has used his
security forces effectively to scare the
people."
Nyarota believes his people are now concerned with
personal survival
and it is this instinct that is forcing thousands to flee
over the border
into South Africa. "I think President Mbeki in particular
does not seem to
have the commitment to solve the current crises in
Zimbabwe, when in my view
he is well placed to deal with Zimbabwe. He has
squandered a real
opportunity to gain good credit in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has in
turn squandered a
good opportunity to die a hero, although he will go to
Hero's Acre when he
dies," Nyarota chuckles, referring to the graveyard
where freedom fighters
are buried.
"People are coming to South
Africa, where there is promise. They're
surviving in Joburg better than in
their own country."
Nyarota finds himself a disappointed man who
believes his people
failed as a nation to exploit a golden opportunity to
develop their country.
"This morning I was amazed at the construction
happening at Johannesburg
International and I was jealous in a way that this
could be happening in
Harare, if we had played our cards
right."
After all that has happened to him, Nyarota hopes to set
foot on
Zimbabwean soil again. "It really is just a matter of time. But now
this
book, well it's an added dimension. When I left Harare I was convinced
I had
used up all my nine lives, I have just used up another. My return
would have
to be timed with the departure of his Excellency, a certain
Robert Mugabe.
"If all Zimbabweans stood together, even hardened
Zanu PF leaders
would abandon ship, but we aren't always united and we miss
that
opportunity."
The Saturday Star, SA
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
BULAWAYO - A fierce
power struggle is rocking Zanu PF in Bulawayo
province as two opposing
factions jostle to control the party in Zimbabwe's
second city.
Former Bulawayo provincial chairman of the War Veterans Association,
Jabulani Sibanda, who was sacked last year for insubordination, is back with
a bang.
Far from being in political oblivion, Sibanda seems to
be calling the
shots and causing sleepless nights among the party's top
hierarchy.
Sibanda has refused to recognise the new provincial
chairman, Thoriso
Phiri, who was imposed by the top Zanu PF leadership after
they sacked
Sibanda.
The firebrand war veteran, it seems, now
has the support of the
majority of the war veterans in the province,
throwing the party into
disarray.
Phiri was hand-picked by a
committee comprising of Dumiso Dabengwa and
retired army commander, Solomon
Mujuru, who were tasked by President Robert
Mugabe to re-organise the War
Veterans Association following major
differences within the powerful
organisation.
Minister of Industry and International Trade, Obert
Mpofu, a war
veteran, has been sucked into the dispute, with some Zanu PF
members
accusing him of bankrolling Sibanda.
Mpofu, who is
reported to be eyeing the post of vice president if the
ailing Joseph Msika
steps down, is said to have provided Sibanda with a car
to use in his bid to
undermine Phiri's leadership as well as campaign for
the minister so he can
step into Msika's shoes ahead of John Nkomo and
Dabengwa.
A
potentially nasty situation was prevented through the intervention
of the
Central Intelligence Organisation at Nkulumane Provincial Heroes'
Acre when
Sibanda and Phiri's factions almost clashed during the heroes' day
celebrations.
Zanu PF officials, Kenneth Nyathi, who is
provincial deputy secretary
for security, and Edmund Matikiti, a national
consultative committee member,
openly criticised Mpofu for inciting war
veterans aligned to Sibanda to
disrupt the proceedings.
Ex-detainees in Bulawayo are also said to support Sibanda who is
reported to
be pushing for the payment of their gratuities.
As a result of all
this wrangling, Mugabe last month sent Msika to
Bulawayo to try and sort out
the "mess" in his party. Msika held a meeting
with Bulawayo politiburo
members Nkomo and Dabengwa, Amos Ngwenya, the Zanu
PF provincial
administrator and Nothando Hlatswayo, a Zanu PF national youth
executive
member. Msika accused Mpofu of causing problems in the party in
his bid to
succeed him when he retires as vice president.
The deputy president
also accused Mpofu of fomenting problems at
Pillosof Farm where war veterans
have defied an order by the Ministry of
Lands to vacate the
farm.
Another restructuring exercise of the party is said to be on
the cards
in Bulawayo, and sources close to the saga say it will not be easy
for the
party's leadership to impose individuals who are not popular with
the
constituency.
"It will be almost impossible for the Zanu PF
leadership to find a
lasting solution as long as they leave out Sibanda who
is an active player,
and no doubt part of the political equation in
Bulawayo," a source said.
Matebeleland province is a stronghold for
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and the Zanu PF party,
despite its in-fighting, does
not enjoy massive support there.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a Correspondent
LONDON - Fears of a
crisis similar to the one in Harare are being
voiced about the election of a
new Bishop of Manicaland, the largest diocese
in Zimbabwe.
The
Archbishop of Central Africa, the Most Revd Bernard Malango, has
called on
church members to "desist from rigging elections and doctoring
documents".
Archbishop Malango was in Mutare last weekend for
the election of
members to the elective assembly, the body that will choose
the new bishop.
The election was cancelled at the last minute in
June, after
allegations of vote-rigging were confirmed. Documents had been
tampered with
to remove two names and substitute others who had not been
elected to the
assembly.
The election was presided over by Mr
Justice Kailaile, the judge who
abandoned the trial of the Bishop of Harare,
the Rt Revd Nolbert Kunonga,
last year. Insiders say that four of the six
members on the assembly are
interested in becoming Bishop.
A
source said on Tuesday: "How are they going to be able to do their
assignment in a just, righteous, dignified, transparent, and professional
manner when they are interested parties? Another problem, like the one in
Harare diocese, is likely to occur."
The news comes as more
details emerge of Bishop Kunonga's own disputed
election as Bishop of Harare
in 2001. In a lecture given to the Grahamstown
Festival in South Africa last
month, the exiled former principal of Bishop
Gaul Theological College, Dr
Archford Musodza, said that the election
process had been "shrouded in
mystery", and had "set a terrible tone for
Bishop Kunonga's
episcopacy".
Dr Musodza suggested that Bishop Kunonga had tried to
"push his way
through" in previous elections for bishoprics. "Information is
now coming
out that while he was still in the United States, he would phone
some people
. . . to put his name forward for the office of bishop. It was
when all this
failed that this man of the cloth decided to work his way into
episcopal
office by hook or by crook."
He named Bishop
Kunonga's chief ally as Brown Gwedegwe, a man with a
criminal record, whom
the Bishop employed as his election campaign manager,
and who was
subsequently rewarded with ordination and the post of diocesan
secretary.
Dr Musodza described the move as "contested by many
people, but at
their own peril - especially the clergy". Bishop Kunonga had
been little-
known, but black clerics had voted for him because of his
ability to fight
for black empowerment, he said.
"One could
hear the deep-rooted hatred of white people surging through
the Bishop's
mouth. . . he literally took to the pulpit to preach party
politics. This is
one area where he disappointed many people who had been
looking to the
Church to maintain its prophetic role, and take the option
for the
poor."
The Church Times, UK
http://www.granma.cu/
TWO important parallel
meetings are to take place in this capital in the
framework of the upcoming
14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM).
A Foreign Ministry source has
confirmed that, in the morning of September
14, the representatives of the
Landlocked Developing Countries, a forum of
31 nations, are to meet for the
first time at highest level.
This session has been convened at the
request of Laos and participants
include the missions of Afghanistan,
Mauritania, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi,
Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Uganda, Uzbekistan,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The
effective participation of those states in multilateral trade and
cooperation in relation to transportation, vital issues for territories
without a sea exit, will be the central themes for discussion among
delegates.
On the other hand, in the afternoon of the same day, a
meeting has been
organized for the Group of 15 which, in fact, is
constituted of 19
countries.
They are: Argentina, Chile, Brazil,
Colombia, Egypt, Jamaica, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, Kenya,
Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Venezuela,
Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
The battle
for a more just and equitable system of world trade and the
reduction of
subsidies applied by the developed nations to protect their
producers to the
detriment of the poor nations, should feature on the
agenda.
Delegations from 31 countries and 23 organizations are to
attend as guests
in expectation of the already promised presence of the UN
Secretary General
Kofi Annan.
The Non-Aligned Movement is to initiate
its work at the level of senior
officials on the 11th and 12th, continuing
September 13-14 with the
participation of foreign
ministers.
September 15-16 is reserved for discussions among heads of
state and
government, who are to approve the final documents after being
informed of
these by their foreign ministers.
The resolutions drafted
by Cuba highlight the re-empowerment of the Movement's
activities and
solidarity among its members, as well as defining the future
lines of work
and the plan of action for such a complex world political
juncture. (PL)
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo
Nkatazo
Last updated: 09/06/2006 02:16:29
A GANG of armed robbers seized a
luxury car owned by Zimbabwe's central bank
governor, with his son inside,
the country's top cop Augustine Chihuri
revealed Tuesday.
A police
response team failed to give chase because they didn't have
vehicles, Police
Commissioner Chihuri said.
Zimbabwe's top police officer was giving
evidence before a parliamentary
portfolio committee on home affairs on the
operational difficulties faced by
the police.
Chihuri did not say
when the incident took place. He said the seizure of the
governor's vehicle
and son, and the police's delayed response, epitomised
severe transport
problems faced by the force across the country.
Chihuri revealed: "The
Reserve Bank governor was at the Newlands Shopping
Centre.
"When he
got out of the car, some criminals got his 4x4 with his child. The
CID had
no vehicles."
Chihuri said an aging police Defender truck was used to
give chase. A road
block was set-up and the gang fled into a nearby farm
where they were
cornered and arrested.
"After that incident, the CID
were given 10 vehicles," the police
commissioner added without mentioning
the source.
Chihuri did not explain whether the criminals were just car
thieves, or
whether they intended to kidnap the governor's son too. He also
would not
say if the men had been brought to court.
The revelations
will heighten concerns around Gono's security after it was
claimed recently
that he was tailed by a suspicious armed gang. This
followed Gono's
unveiling of radical monetary policy initiatives aimed at
disrupting a
thriving foreign currency black market.
A fire which later gutted his
farm was also linked to his currency reforms,
leading Gono to issue a public
statement saying he would not be intimidated.